Japanese manga artist Kan Takahama is using her craft to retell the story of Japan’s “hidden Christians,” a community that preserved its faith during centuries of persecution.
Her work will be presented in Italy this week during a series of events marking the 440th anniversary of the historic Tensho Embassy.
“How can the treasure of a testimony of faith that took place centuries ago, of which only a few traces remain in historical documents, be passed on to new generations?”
This is the question Takahama addresses through Shishi to Botan (“Lion and Peonies”), a manga based on the 1638 revolt of Christian peasants led by samurai Amakusa Shiro.
In the 17th century, when Christianity was banned and missionaries expelled from Japan, Catholics continued their faith in secret.
“The village chief led the community, established religious solemnities according to the liturgical calendar, and safeguarded the holy books. The catechist taught the children; those who knew the baptismal formulas administered the First Sacrament; a messenger visited families to announce Sundays, Christian feasts, and days of fasting and abstinence,” reported the Vatican’s Fides News Agency.
Takahama, from Amakusa, discovered old documents on Christian persecution in her family’s archives and has since been collecting oral traditions.
Her region, along with Nagasaki, was a refuge for Christians over 250 years and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The conferences in Rome (March 17–18) and Lucca (March 20) are organized by the Japanese Embassy to the Holy See and the Archdiocese of Lucca.
They commemorate the 1585 Tensho Embassy—the first official Japanese delegation to the Pope. The mission was initiated by Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, who “wanted to raise awareness of Japan among the European church at the time and counter certain stereotypes about the Japanese country.”
The embassy’s return also brought Gutenberg’s printing press to Japan, aiding the production of early Christian texts. “But how can historical research be translated into manga comics?” Takahama will explore this in her lectures, bridging historical faith with contemporary storytelling.
